U.S. Policy on Sudan Must Pivot to Advance Freedom, Justice and Democracy

Dear Mr. President and Leaders of the Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs Committees,

The people of Sudan are demanding freedom, justice and democracy; therefore, we, the ___ undersigned Sudanese, scholars, human rights organizations and leading activists, strongly urge the United States Government to support their aspirations, as well as greater regional stability, by calling for President Bashir to step down and by supporting democratic transformation in Sudan.

Throughout Sudan, thousands are peacefully protesting the Sudan regime, its massive crimes, including genocide and support of terrorist actors, and its gross mismanagement of the economy, which is exacerbated by widespread corruption at the highest levels at the same time as breadlines lengthen and access to basic necessities, including access to personal funds, becomes increasingly scarce.

Despite the right to peacefully assemble, a guarantee of Sudan’s Interim National Constitution, peaceful protesters have been fired upon by the Sudan regime and reports indicate that over 40 have been killed, well over 300 have been wounded, and more than 800 have been arrested. The news from Sudan is replete with reports of government forces deliberately shooting to kill peaceful demonstrators and other shocking violations of basic humanity. In spite of these terrifying circumstances, protests are growing and courageous Sudanese across all regions of Sudan are calling for an end to the Bashir regime.

The Government of Sudan is clearly failing the tests of the United States’ Phase II Engagement Plan, as evidenced by the violent crimes and egregious human rights violations committed by the regime since peaceful protests began on December 19, 2018. Any consideration of normalizing relations with the Sudan regime sends the wrong message, not only to the regime in Sudan, but also to bad actors worldwide, putting the United States and its allies at additional risk. U.S. policy must pivot to advance freedom, justice and democracy in Sudan. Please support the people of Sudan and their call for an end to Bashir’s genocidal regime.

If you are on twitter, search #SudanUprising and #SudanRevolts and help spread the word about the courageous struggle the men, women and youth of Sudan have undertaken to end the Bashir regime and to begin an era of freedom, democracy, equal citizenship and a just peace in Sudan!

Share this webpage and video of Bashir justifying the killing of peaceful protesters with your elected officials! #EndImpunityhttp://www.sudanhumanrights.org/?p=1664&fbclid=IwAR1lodyHuEoxlE5IEncVKK5Obke1EiB2Dgpkk5ce4nSL8G6NrsAM_u_laOo

In the US, please contact your Senator!

Below is a template of a letter to the Senate,originated by Amir Ibrahim and Mustafa Sharif at Texas A&M University. Their goal is to make it available/easy for everyone (Sudanese and non Sudanese American citizens/residents) to simply add his/her name and send it to his/her respective senator. Their hope is to create an environment for a stream of letters appearing constantly at senators’ mail/emails to keep the Sudan issue in the forefront of America’s foreign affairs.

I am writing to draw your attention to the concerning excessive use of force and brutality by Sudanese governmental authorities against peaceful protests that have swept across Sudan recently.

I am primarily concerned about the violent suppression by Sudanese Government forces of citizens’ rights to peaceful assembly and protest. These forces, including Intelligence Service, Police, and Army, have brutally cracked down on peaceful protestors with sticks and batons, fired tear gas, and used live ammunition to disperse protests. So far, at least 37 civilians were killed and over 300 wounded, many of whom have sustained serious gunshot injuries. The death toll is expected to rise if the violent crackdown continues to mount up, unstopped.

To make things worse, the Government of Sudan has cut off all internet connections and blocked social media such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Furthermore, many activists remain detained incommunicado and concern about their safety is rising among their families and friends.

I urge the US Senate to call on the Sudanese Government to immediately cease committing atrocities on peaceful demonstrations and protests, stop unjustified arbitrary arrests, and release all detainees. This is simply a human rights matter.

WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, yesterday sent a letter to President Trump calling for the expulsion and potential sanctioning of the Charge D’Affaires at the Embassy of Sudan in Washington.

PLEASE TWEET: Thank you @BobMenendezNJ and @SenatorLeahy for urging @realDonaldTrump to expel Mohamed Atta from the U.S. and to determine if Atta is subject to sanctions under the Magnitsky Act. We agree, Atta is "an affront to our values and our national interests." https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/menendez-leahy-call-for-expulsion-of-top-sudanese-diplomat

Alert Secretary of State Pompeo!

Atta’s crimes make him ineligible for a U.S. visa and his links to terrorist organizations make him a threat to U.S. national security.

#ExpelAtta: Former Director of NISS belongs in the Hague not the U.S.

Given the terror and destruction associated with Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), we are shocked the U.S. would issue a visa to Mohammed Atta al-Moula, the former Director of NISS, and accept Atta as Sudan’s top diplomatgy in Washington, DC. Atta’s presence in the U.S. is not only an affront to the victims of NISS torture who have sought refugee asylum here, but also a national security risk for the U.S. due to Atta's extensive connections with terrorist networks. By law, Atta should have been denied a U.S. visa because of his involvement in serious crimes, such as genocide, acts of torture, and severe violations of religious freedom.

Please take a few minutes to read this urgent letter to Secretary of State Pompeo, then help us raise the alarm with the Administration, including Homeland Security and the related Congressional Committees, by taking one or all of the actions below:

The US should #ExpelAtta, not welcome him. #Sudan’s former NISS Director Mohammed Atta al-Moula’s involvement in these crimes makes him a national security risk and ineligible for a visa according to U.S. immigration law. @USDOS @homelandsecurity @NikkiHaley @MikePence @DonaldTrump @MichaeltMcCaul @CongressmanBennieGThompson @senronjohnson @HSGAC http://bit.ly/2LZHdAW

Call Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), former Sudan Caucus Co-Chair and current Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security at 202-225-2401 and leave this message:

Chairman McCaul, as the former Co-Chair of the Sudan Caucus, you are well aware of the crimes committed by NISS and its connection to terrorist networks. We are shocked to learn that the former Director of NISS, Mohammed Atta al-Moula, is currently in the U.S. serving as the head of the Sudan Embassy in Washington, DC. Atta has been part of NISS since 1992 and his support of terrorist organizations poses a serious national security risk. His involvement in genocide, torture, religious persecution and other serious crimes make him ineligible for a U.S. visa and yet somehow he is working in the U.S. On behalf of Sudanese who have been terrorized by this individual and for the security of the United States, we ask you to please seek Atta’s immediate expulsion from the U.S.

Petition on the Deteriorating Human Rights and Humanitarian Situation in Sudan

We call on the relevant mechanisms of the United Nations, the African Union and the international community at large to bring effective pressure to bear on GoS and ensure that it undertakes concrete measures to:

Guarantee the safety, physical integrity and well-being of all persons held in government custody and put an immediate end to the use of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees by NISS.

Allow all political detainees, especially those held in detention facilities run by NISS, to have immediate and regular access to their family members, legal advice and essential medicines and medical care.

Bring all individuals arrested and detained for political reasons before courts of law without delay and enable such persons and their lawyers to challenge the legality of their arrests and the conditions of their detention

End discriminatory practices and treatment of all persons and political activists originating from Darfur and other war-affected regions of Sudan who are currently held in government custody, especially those persons accused of sympathy with the armed movements in these areas.

Embark on a comprehensive reform of the laws relating to Sudan’s security apparatus so as to bring them into conformity with international standards. The GoS should amend or repeal measures that allow security officials carte blanche to commit human rights violations. In particular, it is vital that the GoS amends the National Security Act of 2010 as well as the Criminal Procedures Act of 1991 and the State of Emergency Act of 1997 and ensure that the provisions of such laws are in line with international standards on the treatment of people deprived of their freedom and guarantee them fair trial and access to legal counselling.

6. The GoS should repeal all Presidential Decrees that bestow immunity on members of NISS, the armed forces, the Rapid Support Forces and other government-affiliated paramilitary and militia groups and any other measures that encourage these forces to commit human rights crimes with total impunity.

Don't Remove Sudan from the Terrorism List

ENOUGH Project Day of Action - April 24, 2018!I am asking that my Senator/Representative make a public statement clearly opposing the removal of Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, whether it be an announcement on twitter or a formal press release.

#FREE_RUDWAN

Rudwan was released at 1:00AM Sudan time! He made it to his family's home and he's doing well!

Praise God and thank you all for your kindness and persistence!

Warm regards,Nancy Dawod

From Rudwan's wife:

My husband has now been in prison for 40 DAYS; no crime, no charges, no consular visit, no access to his lawyers. How can this happen?! Why do we not have any leverage with the Sudanese government given we've just lifted sanctions and are considering removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism?

I am dumbfounded...

This is a flagrant violation of human rights and a prime example of the daily operations unabated by a government led by a dictator wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Our failure to Rudwan, and every other human rights defender in Sudan, emboldens this behavior.

Support #SudanProtests

#Sudan: The names of 106 Sudanese political detainees, including the 29 arrested in connection with today's (January 16, 2018) demonstrations in Khartoum (as of 1pm EST, January 16, 2018) | https://wp.me/p45rOG-2bT | video of security force beatings at |

Step 2: Re-tweet Eric's tweet and add:

#DoNotBeSilent @POTUS, @VP, @StateDept, @nikkihaley - speak out against state sponsored violence on peaceful protesters. #EndImpunity, sanction #corruption and support #freedom, #justice and #equality for all Sudanese. Please support #SudanProtests! @USEmbassyKRT @TLHumanRights

Sudanese and Activists Demand Justice for the People of Sudan

We urge the UN to seriously consider adopting new mechanisms to enforce ICC arrest warrants on any areas administered by the UN, including its headquarters, to end President al-Bashir’s impunity. The people of Darfur have cried for years for a simple and humble demand; to see justice served for internationally recognized crimes that have been perpetrated against them with impunity. It is imperative that the international community makes it clear to President alBashir and all perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, that impunity for these crimes will not and must never be an option.

Remember the Victims of Genocide in Sudan

“Genocide does not happen by accident; it is deliberate, with warning signs and precursors,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Saturday in his message for the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.

Please tweet:

Today on #genocidevictimsday, we remember the victims of genocide in #Sudan and urge the @UN member states to uphold their responsibility under the #GenocideConvention to #ArrestBashir and other leaders of the #NCP guilty of #genocide cc: @POTUS, @nikkihaley @antonioguterres

Protest Corporate Council on Africa's Promotion of US Business Engagement in Sudan.

Please tweet:

Promoting business opportunities in Sudan under the current regime is funding genocide and mass atrocities @CorpCnclAfrica http://svdaily.net/index.php/new-posts/local-news/11410-first-american-trade-mission-of-businessmen-of-cca-visits-sudan?utm_source=The+Corporate+Council+on+Africa+%28Revised%29&utm_campaign=8fcfcc0a6e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4004c77546-8fcfcc0a6e-325769297

Doing business in Sudan is funding genocide and mass atrocities @Shell http://svdaily.net/index.php/new-posts/local-news/11411-shell-company-resumes-operation-in-sudan?utm_source=The+Corporate+Council+on+Africa+%28Revised%29&utm_campaign=8fcfcc0a6e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4004c77546-8fcfcc0a6e-325769297

Appeal to World Health Organization to Address the Cholera Crisis in Sudan

Dear Dr. Ghebreyesus,We call on you to take leadership in addressing the cholera crisis in Sudan, especially in the Darfur region and save the lives of thousands of likely victims that are languishing in miserably camps for internally displaced persons. We particularly appeal to you to call upon the GoS to declare, in no ambiguous terms, the existence of a cholera pandemic in the country. We further call on the WHO to develop emergency plans for intervention to curb the ongoing cholera epidemic in Sudan, taking into consideration the special needs of regions of the country that witness concentration of vulnerable groups in densely populated makeshift settlements with extremely poor health service and sanitation such as Darfur, where environmental and health infrastructures are extremely poor.

Re: Darfour Students in danger - A call for Urgent ActionWe urge the international community to take immediate actions to protect the Darfur students against the deliberate and targeted violence by the Sudanese Security Forces.Thousands of Darfouri students from Bakht Aruda University in the White Nile Province submitted their resignation after being targeted by members of the University staff by a series of racially discriminatory acts.This included unlawful detention and expulsion from University .The protesters set off to Khartoum ,the capital to peacefully protest against the University punitive actions .They had to walk for miles as they were denied access to transport by NISS ( Sudanese National Intelligence Security Services).In an unprecedented escalation of violence , the students have been placed under siege in Sheikh Alyagoot area near Janel Awlia since Tuesday .At the writing of this email the students are being surrounded by police cars and being forced to get on board a bus to an unknown destination.We are extremely concerned for the students’ safety .We hereby urge the international community to take urgent action to ensure their well-being and to stop the targeted racial discrimination and human rights violation crimes .Human rights activistsBetter Future@nashat cafeJuly 20, 2017 9:30pm EST

Protest Squire Patton Boggs Lobbying for the Sudan Regime

Letter to Mark J. Ruehlmann, CEO, Squire Patton Boggs(September 11, 2017): We, the undersigned 130 Sudanese, scholars and human rights organizations, write to request your help. Your firm is lobbying for the government of Sudan, a regime comparable to the Nazis whose leaders are indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. At the hand of your client, over 3 million Sudanese have been killed and over 5 million have been forcibly removed from their homes. The regime has eliminated all basic freedoms and Sudanese are discriminated against and targeted because of their race and religion. Christians, in particular, are persecuted and their places of worship destroyed. We believe the actions of the Sudan regime are incompatible with the values of your firm, which emphasize corporate responsibility and fostering social justice, and the values of all Americans, and therefore, we write to strongly urge Squire Patton Boggs to no longer associate itself with the Sudan regime.

"Sudan has used the provisional easing of the sanctions put in place in January, not to begin the necessary reforms of the structural deformities of the country’s economy, but instead to order fighter jets and battle tanks from its traditional arms suppliers, Russia and China." Brad Brooks-Rubin, The Enough Project, House Subcommittee on Africa Hearing, April 26, 2017

.@SPB_Global End the miscarriage of justice against Dr Mudawi and his colleague Hafiz Idris Eldoma. #DoGood https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/sudan-end-the-miscarriage-of-justice-against-dr-mudawi-and-his-colleague/

May 29, 2017 - For weeks now, Sudan witnesses an epidemic outbreak of Cholera that spread in White Nile, Khartoum and North Kordofan states in addition to multiple reported cases in East Sudan. Similar outbreak of Cholera took place few months ago in Blue Nile and Gadarif states and extended to other areas of the country. The Government of Sudan insist then and still now on covering up these outbreaks by naming them Acute Watery Diarrhoea, in a In a blatant circumvention that has no reasons but underestimating the health and lives of Sudanese citizens. The main causes of these repeated outbreaks of Cholera are related to the deteriorated environmental situation, the lack of safe drinking water, pollution of the water supply networks, and the ineffectiveness of water purification plants, which are problems that Bashir's regime ignores while spending on political bribery and militarily expenses in its three fronts of civil war.

The outbreak of Cholera in the beginning of Autumn and the start of the rainy season is a disastrous harbinger of a disastrous situation if not quickly remedied since these conditions are the most suitable for quick spread of cholera. Cholera victims are in fact victims of negligence, ill prioritization, and mismanagement, as well as rampant corruption that puts corrupt and unqualified officials in positions of responsibility for our health.

We support and salute the non-governmental campaign that began working in fighting the spread of epidemics. These campaigns expressed the cohesion and solidarity of our people in the face of crises and they are working to save the sons and daughters of our people from death and mitigate the impact of the disaster. However, we clearly say they are not enough.We insist that the regime and the new quota government, which came by bribes of the cake of power, to assume their full responsibility. We tell them that quotas, positions, and adherence to power are not a gesture or an experiment for those who enter it, but will stain their hands with the blood and lives of our people.

We call for public pressure to move in parallel with the humanitarian action, using all means of peaceful resistance to force the regime to actually conduct its duties and putting together an integrated package of measures in order to defeat the epidemic.

We urgently demand the following:

First: The declaration of the true magnitude of the epidemic and its real diagnosis. In order to attract international support of preventive means including the oral cholera vaccine.

Second: we affirm that recognition alone is not enough, as the government must allocate enough funds to fighting the spread of the outbreak from the budget reserves to cope with the emergency epidemiological situation.

Thirdly, we seek through this pressure to hold the corrupt officials who failed to perform their duties, led by the health ministers and the governors of the affected state accountable. their inaction led to the recurrence of the epidemic and the transformation of cholera into a endemic disease in Sudan.

Fourth, we call on the government to allow local and international humanitarian organizations to intervene and work in coordination with the Ministry of Health in fighting cholera, similar to what happened in the countries of the world hit by this epidemic.

Finally, we affirm that these demands will not be achieved as they should and as we want, unless popular and public pressure is applied on the government.

Resistance Continues and Shall Overcome

Congratulations and Thank You, Dr. Tom Catena

When the war first started, he was encouraged to evacuate, but he insisted on staying. “I’ve never regretted that decision,” says Dr. Catena. “I was needed at that point more than ever. I couldn’t just abandon the people I had gotten to know just as they needed support the most. Because it’s the people that count here. What they do never ceases to amaze me.”

Statements re Sudan to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights

Act for Sudan: Urge President Trump to Avoid Bashir in Saudi Arabia

The Riyadh Summit is coming up soon. The US Embassy has issued an statement reiterating the opposing position of the US Government to the travel of Al Bashir to Saudi Arabia and attending a conference attended by President Trump. We hope this is true but we need to make sure President Donald J. Trump understands the gravity of the situation.

The Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act seeks to strengthen the U.S. government's ability to prevent and respond to genocide and mass atrocities around the world by:

Creating the Mass Atrocities Task Force

Authorizing the Complex Crises Fund

Training of Foreign Service Officers to recognize the early warnings of genocide and mass atrocities

Requiring reporting by the State Department and Director of National Intelligence

Click here to send a letter to your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2017, S.1158. If your Senator is already a cosponsor, send them a thank you message.

Amnesty International: Release Dr Mudawi now and investigate allegations of his torture

Dr Mudawi bravely spoke up for families fleeing violence in Sudan, as well as on many other human rights issues. Because of this, he's been arrested several times by Sudanese authorities and held in prison since December - even though he hasn't been charged with anything.

It looks like Dr Mudawi has also been tortured. Someone who was in the same prison told Dr Mudawi’s family that he witnessed him chained to a pole with his hands cuffed and his legs shackled, as government agents brutally beat him.

In his day job, Dr Mudawi is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Khartoum. He also founded and is the former director of the Sudan Social Development Organization. He won the 2005 Human Rights First award and the 2005 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, for fighting for the rights of others in Sudan.

Dr Mudawi went on hunger strike protesting his imprisonment, but he has still not been charged or brought before a court. Even though he suffers from chronic respiratory and heart complications, he has only been allowed access to a doctor three times since his detention in December and he was only allowed to speak to his lawyer for the first time 77 days after he was imprisoned.

Important Enough Project Reports on Sudan

Amnesty International: April 7th GET ON THE BUS Action Letter on Sudan

Get on the Bus for Human Rights (GOTB) is an annual day of human rights education and activism organized by Amnesty International USA Group 133 of Somerville, MA and a dedicated team of volunteer community organizers. Now in its 22nd year, GOTB draws upwards of 1,200 participants riding buses, commuter trains, and carpooling down to New York City to take peaceful action in front of embassies, consulates and corporate headquarters in NYC in support of human rights.

DWAG: Global Week of Action Against the Genocide in Darfur

We will be hosting two events in Washington, DC, as part of the Global Week of Action Against the Genocide in Darfur (April 7-16). Join us and bring a friend as we protest against the continuing genocide in Darfur and unceasing violence in Sudan.

April 7What: 24-hour hunger strikeWhere: In front of the White House (Lafayette Square)When: Starts at 12:30pm

April 8What: RallyWhere: In front of the White House (Lafayette Square)When: 1pm-4pm

Host Your Own EventPlease let us know if you are interested in hosting your own event as part of Global Week of Action - such as rallies, protests, forums, workshops and panels. We can help! For more information please contactoutreach@darfurwomenaction.org.

Act for Sudan: Letter to the OPCW

Excerpt:

We are writing to you in your capacity as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Act for Sudan is an alliance of over 70 U.S.-based organizations that advocate for an end to genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan. In October last year we wrote to you to urge you to use your influence in the OPCW to push for a full, thorough investigation of allegations made by Amnesty International that Sudan’s government had used chemical weapons in attacks against civilians in the country’s Darfur region.1

We are writing now to express our dismay that the OPCW has greeted these violations with yet more impunity, by instituting Sudan as Deputy Chairperson of its Executive Council. Given the serious nature of the allegations made by Amnesty International, the fact that these allegations remain uninvestigated, and with the government of Sudan blocking access to the besieged Jebel Marra region which was targeted in these attacks, this appointment of Sudan to a leadership role in OPCW is a shocking disgrace and a grave affront to the victims of these attacks.

Conference: April 1 - 2, 2017 at the University of Southern California

Learn about ongoing mass atrocities throughout the world and how the US government can play a better role in preventing atrocities. And most importantly: how you can take action. Connect with other passionate community leaders and activists working to protect human rights in the U.S. and abroad.

Please share the Recommended Sudan Policy statement that is an outcome of the February 3, 2017 Sudan Advocacy Workshop in DC and supported by 77 Sudanese, scholars and human rights groups. Please share on social media and with government officials in the U.S. and abroad. Thank you!

We, the members of the Sudanese community in the Diaspora, respectfully request your support of the people of Sudan at this critical time. An enemy of the Sudanese people, Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, Speaker of the Sudan National Assembly, has received a visa for a visit to the United States from February 20, 2017 to March 4, 2017. The purpose of his visit is to lobby Congress and other officials to lift the remaining U.S. sanctions and to lift sanctions permanently. Please do not meet with him or his colleagues.

Mr. Omer is an ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood and a long-time member of the National Congress Party (NCP), which is responsible for the death, injury and displacement of millions of Sudanese under the leadership of an internationally indicted criminal. Mr. Omer has personally overseen the passage of repressive legislation that has eroded the basic human rights and the civil rights of Sudanese in addition to entrenching policies that destroy and marginalize the country’s institutions and more importantly, its citizens.

During Mr. Omer’s tenure as the Minister of Higher Education (1990-96 and 1997-2000), he devised and oversaw the policy of forced conscription of Sudanese high school students in what was called Actionable Mandatory Service. High school graduates were not allowed to enroll in college in Sudan or abroad without first completing training camps of indoctrination and military training. Some of these students became suicide bombers, known as tank busters, during the civil war in southern Sudan.

In addition, Mr. Omer converted the Africa International University into a training ground of African Muslim jihadists, some of which later became the leaders of Al-Shabab in Somalia and Boko Haram in the Sahel. All along, he has been a senior person in the Shora "advisory" Council of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, a cell of the international Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr. Omer and his colleagues in the NCP have launched a massive campaign that targets the U.S. and European Embassies for the purpose of normalizing relations, lifting sanctions and ensuring their ruthless grip on power. Please do not fall for their tactics, but instead, please send the important message that you are standing with the people of Sudan, not the perpetrators of genocide and mass atrocities and the proponents of terrorism worldwide. The United States has made it very clear what the government of Sudan must do to normalize relations. Please do not move the goal posts or lower the bar.

The United States Congress is the symbol of democracy around the world and while the crisis in Sudan is largely overshadowed by other world events, the people of Sudan sincerely appreciate the decades-long commitment by Congress to help Sudanese in need and to support our struggle to find a just and sustainable peace. At this critical time, we would be especially grateful for your continued support.

Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a prominent Sudanese human rights defender, has been unlawfully detained for over two months, held by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) at Khartoum’s Kober Prison without charge or access to legal representation, 39 human rights groups and activists said.

Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) and the undersigned would like to express our deep concern about the recent massacres against civilians in Nertiti, Jabel Marra, Central Darfur, and El Geneina West Darfur. We are particularly concerned with the continuing surge of violence that has killed countless men, women and children and devastated lives in Darfur, Sudan for more than 14 years. We are equally appalled by the lack of independence and transparency in the investigations of these incidents, a continuing and unfortunate trend regarding violent crimes committed against civilians in the area.

“What's concerning for many pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders on the ground is that the outcome of the deal with Khartoum relegates improvements in humanitarian relief, human rights and basic freedoms to the background. In this situation, regime access to US investment, trade and banking facilities can only help benefit a kleptocratic genocidal dictatorship adept at securing its power by repression and imposing economic misery on its people. It is quite saddening that a President who championed the cause of the Sudanese people when a Senator, now leaves office handing them only a numbing sense of betrayal.” - Ali Abdelatif, DAAM- Sudanese Pro-Democracy Activists Network Abroad

"It is shocking and outrageous to see the outgoing Obama Administration rewarding terrorists. You can't fight terrorism by rewarding terrorists! The Sudan Government is the cradle where all the terror of political Islam was born and raised. It continues to be so to this day. This is a government which lives and thrives on terrorism. To rid the whole world of the terror of political Islam you need to remove Bashir's government not reward it. The issue is as simple as that." - Ali Askouri, Chairman, Alliance of the Dam Affected Communities in the Sudan

“President Barack Obama, who recently regretted not doing enough to save lives in South Sudan, is about to commit a grave mistake by trying to, at the last minute of his presidency, reward the world's brutal killer and ICC indicted war criminal, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, with his decision to lift sanctions imposed on the Sudanese government for genocide in Darfur and the ongoing killings in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. As a survivor of the north-south Sudanese civil war and a proud American from President Obama's hometown of Chicago, and a committed activist who wholeheartedly supported President Obama for his first term election and second term reelection, including my appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s show on the morning of his election in 2008 and joining him for his victory celebration in Grand Park on the night of November 4, 2008, I am deeply disappointed that my trusted President is turning his back on millions of supporters like me and the Sudanese who suffered for so long under Omar Al-Bashir.” - Peter Magai Bul is a Former Sudanese Lost Boy and a committed member of the Sudanese Community Association of Illinois

“I believe that the Sudan government has done little to nothing to improve its poor records on human rights and rule of law in this poor country. The country is ruled arbitrarily by different pro-regime militias and security apparatuses where killing, kidnapping and looting civilians has become daily practices of the regime forces and elements, especially in Darfur. While I believe general economic sanctions are harmful for the citizens of Sudan, I believe that strict and specified sanctions on the regime leaders and elements involved in human rights' violations should be provided and implemented, not the opposite.” - Adil Abdel Aati, Political and Civil Activist

“Sudanese people have stood up for change and against tyranny, yearning for democracy to exercise their basic rights to live in peace. It is time for the United States of America to extend a hand to the people of Sudan to bring about political change in the country. The sanctions have brought this regime to its knees, it is gasping for air, it is time to continue the pressure to stave off the government from any means to maneuver and execute another brutal military tactic to lock the country in new waves of violence. We urge the administration not to assist the genocidal regime run by a corrupt political oligarch. The sanctions against the regime should continue.” - Hamid Eltgani Ali, Professor at the American University in Cairo

“Easing the US sanctions on Sudan is a catastrophic action. This will make the habitual genocidal killer more powerful. We are disappointed. There is no progress on human rights and humanitarian issues. The point of view regarding improvement is not accompanied with the truth. We must tell how it is.” - Abdelrahman

“It is so sad that Obama has rewarded the genocidal regime in Khartoum, who is advancing their genocidal strategy now. The outgoing administration can say anything to justify its harmful move. Nevertheless, the facts on the ground remain as they are. (1) The regime continues its massacres and using food as a weapon againstthe civilian populations in Darfur, Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile. (2) The regime is still committing gross violations of human rights all over Sudan. Darfuri students and political and civil society activists are still languishing in their horrible detention cells and subjected to severe torture by the notorious NISS. (3) It is true that the regime banned Riek Machar from entering Sudan, but it isn't a secret that the regime continues its support to various rebel commanders of South Sudan. No doubt, Bashir will continue his strategy of destabilization of South Sudan. (4) On counter-terrorism, let us not forget that when the Sudanese regime decided to cooperate on counter-terrorism it did it for its own survival tactics. In other words, its cooperation with the US was not out of a genuine change of policy or behavior or ideology. At the time, Bashir and his clique were scared, so they wanted to avoid imminent military attacks and other harsh measures by the Bush administration in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks! The regime/NISS is playing a double game with regard to the issue of terrorism. Sometimes NISS puts some terrorist elements in prison just to mislead and show the US and other Western governments that the regime is fighting against terrorist and extremist groups. In reality, they are not taking any real measures against extremist groups. In fact, Bashir is creating the environment within which these groups are growing and expanding.” - Ahmed H. Adam, Visiting Fellow, Institute for African Development (IAD), Cornell University

Video Response: “It is unbelievable that the Obama Administration rewards a regime that committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against its own people.” - Niemat Ahmadi, Founder and President, Darfur Women Action Group

"The need for accountability for crimes against humanity does not diminish with time. History has repeatedly shown us the deep value of justice in peace building. If sanctions are eased, what other measures are being taken to hold the Government of Sudan responsible for their horrific actions against their people?" - Pam Omidyar

"The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 which led to the independence of South Sudan in 2011 also included a range of provisions for bringing peace to three main areas, north of the new frontier, which had participated in the national struggle of the SPLA. These were Abyei, South Kordofan (including the Nuba Mountains) and the Blue Nile. However, the implementation of the CPA provisions has been severely neglected, with the result that the people of these regions have seen only political stalemate since 2011; along with military escalation (including aerial attacks), severe displacement in key places, and intolerable suffering among civilians. It is astonishing to hear that the United States is planning to improve relations with Khartoum by relaxing sanctions at this point.” - Wendy James, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford

“I became part of the anti-genocide movement in 2005 to stand up against the violence in Darfur. Now, a dozen years later, that tragedy continues unabated despite global awareness of Bashir's atrocities against his own people and despite the voices calling desperately for an end to this atrocity. Millions have been uprooted from their homes and their lives; hundreds of thousands of innocent people have perished through bombing, torture, starvation, and disease; and towns and villages have been completely destroyed. The perpetrators have impunity for the terror they cause. When you became president, I had great hope that you would be a leader on the world stage to advocate for law, not war; for justice, not impunity. You have failed the people of Darfur - and the people of Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, and so many places on the planet.” - Ellen J. Kennedy, Executive Director, World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law

“For a bystander country, the only thing worse than never taking action against mass violence is taking action for a time and then stopping even though nothing has improved. If, to an indicted genocide perpetrator, the former signals indifference, the latter conveys unambiguous approval. If the United States ends its sanctions now, Omar al Bashir will not just understand this to mean that the US has no intention of any kind of intervention in the future against the horrific human rights violations he is committing now, but he will take it to mean that he is free to commit even more violence without any negative consequences. The end result of US policy of the past two decades will be that it has made things yet worse for the millions of human beings in Sudan who suffer under al Bashir’s genocidal butchery, forced starvation, campaigns of rape, and more. For an out-going US President concerned about his legacy, I can imagine little that would be worse.” - Henry C. Theriault, Professor of Philosophy, Worcester State University, Co-Editor, Genocide Studies International

“’Why is a man punished for killing another man, yet the killing of a million is a lesser crime than the killing of an individual?’ Raphael Lemkin’s question is, unfortunately, as pertinent today as it was decades ago. Omar al Bashir and his genocidal regime must be held accountable for their heinous crimes against the people of Sudan.” - Paul Slovic, The Arithmetic of Compassion

"Thousands of brave Sudanese dissidents will be profoundly disappointed by President Obama's actions. They have looked to the United States as a beacon of democracy and freedom; they have been inspired by the history of American civil rights campaigners; and they believed President Obama stood with them against the corrupt and authoritarian Khartoum regime. Now they are horrified that America is turning a blind eye to gross human rights abuses against Sudan's minorities." - Rebecca Tinsley, author of When the Stars Fall to Earth, Founder, Waging Peace, London, UK

“How can we abandon ‘the least of these’?” - Karen Henderson

“We Americans, friends of the Sudanese people who are suffering genocide under the regime of Al-Bashir, share the feelings of Rep. McGovern: “I am angry and deeply disappointed that the last act by the Obama Administration on Sudan policy is to ease sanctions against a genocidal regime when there has been little to no change on-the-ground in the human rights and humanitarian crises suffered by the Sudanese people.” The act was made without consultation with the Lawmakers, and it now becomes clear that it is up to Congress to take the moral leadership, create legislation that will end the killing and provide the desperately needed humanitarian access.” - Al Sutton M.D., African Freedom Coalition

"The lifting of sanctions against Sudan should be attached only to real, concrete progress on the ground. Full government humanitarian blockades in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan and Blue Nile remain in effect. Government-orchestrated violence against civilians continues. Millions of Sudanese still cannot return home for fear of being raped or killed. The progress cited by the Obama Administration is non-existent on a large scale. Sanctions relief only buys the regime more time to pursue its disastrous policies even further. The simple fact that this deal was made in secret between the U.S. government and a genocidal regime without the input of the Sudanese people and experts with on-the-ground experience in the conflict areas is deeply unsettling. This decision only benefits the dictatorship and, because of that, it should be reversed." - Mark C. Hackett, Executive Director, Operation Broken Silence, obsilence.org

“It is deeply saddening that Obama has chosen, as one of his last acts as president, to lift sanctions on the genocidal government in Sudan. Equally devastating is Ambassador Samantha Power's open support. Power has long been an advocate for victims of genocide and mass atrocities. Whatever progress that the US has seen in their "behind the scenes [engagement] with the government of Sudan in a discreet way", the Sudanese people are witnessing that the Government of Sudan's "ceasefire" just means that the Sudanese army can massacre civilians like they did in the January 1st attack in Nertiti. What message is the US trying to send to the world about oppressive regimes when they reward a government like that of Omar al Bashir's? This carrot and stick approach will only encourage human rights abusers throughout the world. Shame on you Mr. President. Shame on you Ambassador Power.” - Lauren Fortgang, Policy Director, Never Again Coalition

“‘In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’ Martin Luther King, Jr. | Dear President Obama, At the close of your Presidency, how will the men, women and children of The Republic South Sudan, Darfur and the Nuba Mountains remember you?” - Joan Hecht, President, Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan

“The last act by the Obama Administration on Sudan policy is a double-edged sword because the partial lifting of sanctions against Sudan is mostly motivated by the cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism, despite the on-going dire situation of the Sudanese people. The Treasury Department mentions 'Sudan sustained progress' on several fronts, but it is clearly ignoring the tragic recent events (Nertiti massacre), brutal offensives targeting civilians in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, and the continued detention, torture and trials of activists and human rights defenders in Sudan. More than ever we must do everything possible so this 'goodwill gesture' lifting the embargo will benefit the Sudanese people, empower civil society organizations, boost the economy and ensure a long, lasting change in the country by pressing Sudan on human rights, peace and democracy. Accountability is mandatory to this new carrot and stick policy and no compromises should be accepted. Optimists will see the glass half full, but previous experiences already taught us the risks coming from a compromised carrot and stick policy, whitewashing crimes with no consequences for the perpetrators but for the populace.” - Max Dana, Founder of The MagkaSama Project

• “Sudan didn’t do anything to be rewarded. If anything, targeted sanctions should be tightened against those who perpetrate violence that continues to hapen in every corner of the country. The Obama policy towards Sudan has miserably failed and all that is left is to reward a government of genocidaires and perpetrators of violence and mass atrocities.” - Omer Ismail

• “The fact is there is no progress on the ground. The people of the Nuba Mountains are still starving over 5 years by the Khartoum regime. And also in Jabel Marra there continues bombing daily by Sudanese government aircraft and Antonov. The U.S must keep the sanctions tightly on Sudan instead of lifting them. The game is over with the NCP regime. Compromises don’t work. Genocide is happening now by the Khartoum criminal regime.” - Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih

• “The US can and should keep the sanctions on. The US has no need to support the genocidal regime in Khartoum. We know from experience that Bashir will do everything he can to cause trouble (in South Sudan, in Libya, in Egypt, ...), and we know that any deal with Bashir and his regime is no deal at all. The US can pursue a tough policy with Sudan that supports and seeks to protect the people of Sudan, without fear that somehow Sudan will go over to the dark side. Sudan’s government lives on the dark side. Let’s be sure not to give them ammunition or money that makes them more powerful, particularly now that Khartoum is teetering under economic pressure.” - Eric Cohen

• “Any relief AlBasher gets from US on sanctions, debt, normalization, removal from the terror list, will be an enormous reward to his regime and a nod to finish the genocide. Albashir will never be reformed. There will be NO peace in Sudan with AlBashir in power in Khartoum. Just last week the Sudanese media published this terrible statement by AlBashir to his troops at a training center in the Northern Nile State on December 23rd 2016, ‘I want you to train well, aim well, because the end of this month (December 2016) will be the end of the cease fire I gave to those who refused so far to come to the peace table. I tell them: After the end of this month, we will come to your place. We will come to you and we will get you down from the top of the mountain (Darfur: Jebel Marra) and we will get you out of the caves (Nuba Mountains) one by one.’” - Mohamed Suleiman

• “If you concur with the lifting of sanctions against Sudan and are silent about its genocidal assaults on civilians in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, you will risk being remembered in history as a President complicit with genocide.” - The Baroness Cox, House of Lords, Parliament of the United Kingdom

• “When you were running for president in 2007 you called the genocide in Darfur a ‘stain on our souls’ and said that ‘as president of the United States I don’t intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.’ I supported you and worked for your election in 2008 and I was so hopeful when you appointed Susan Rice and Samantha Power to important positions in your administration. But now, over eight years later, nothing has changed for the victims of the regime in Khartoum. In fact, for many in Sudan things are much worse, not only for Darfuris but also for those in the Nuba Mountains and other marginalized areas of the country. You have abandoned the men, women, and children of Darfur. You have turned a blind eye to the slaughter of the innocents. They greeted your election with expectations that their lives would be better but so many during the last eight years have lost all hope. Now is not the time, in the last weeks of your presidency to change sanctions that have already been imposed.” - Marv Steinberg

• “Hopefully the Administration will understand the situation and keep the sanctions in place.” - Hashim Orta Adaw, Blue Nile Youth for Peace and Development Organization

• “STAND emerged out of the struggle to stop genocide in Darfur and we have continued to support the struggle for justice in Sudan for nearly a decade. As senator, President Obama was a strong ally of this cause, and we are disappointed to see his policy as President overlook the country’s horrific and ongoing human rights abuses. The decision to withdraw sanctions on Sudan as atrocities continue to occur with appalling frequency will offer financial support and confer legitimacy to a government that has made clear that it has no intention of stopping abuses against its people.” - STAND: The Student-led Movement to End Mass Atrocities

• “The U.S. cannot lift the sanctions to Sudan!” -Philip Nima

• “In one of his last speeches Bashir designated USA as the enemy. In a another occasion he said the USA, UK and France are under his shoes. He is anti-western and inhumane. His same message but in a relatively more sophisticated theological manner had been continuously propagated in Sudanese official education, media and mosques. Such hatred should not be for free. And for us as Sudanese democrats, it is better to suffer from sanctions for a while than to continue to suffer under the brutal Islamist fascism.” - Elhag ali Warrag, Hurriyat Editor-in-Chief

• “Every school child knows that appeasing a bully never solves the problem. Reducing sanctions on Sudan, and on the individuals in Sudan responsible for the carnage, only emboldens them. The architects of the ethnic cleansing of Sudan’s minorities will perceive weakness and redouble their efforts to eliminate their opponents. The sanctions must remain.” - Rebecca Tinsley, Founder of Waging Peace

• “One of the agendas in your campaign was a solution for the Darfur crisis. I am hopeless. Because of your policy failure I am not able to return back home to join my kids and start my legal business. My dreams are ruined in the Diaspora. Five years have passed and nothing has improved. Your promise has failed.” - Abdelrahman

• “By rewarding a Regime that commits mass atrocities, the US is marginalizing accountability, the rule of law and dishonoring those that have been killed or maimed by the Bashir Regime. The Regime has attacked innocent civilians in Darfur, and continues to bomb innocent civilians in places of refuge in Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile States. As an U.S. international criminal lawyer, I am ‘disappointed’ that the U.S. is choosing to reward genocidaires, instead of taking a stand to uphold rule of law and protect innocent civilians. Lifting any of the sanctions against the Bashir Regime rewards the regime and curtails peace. Please keep the existing sanctions in place.”

• “Sudan is one of only three States on the US list of Sponsors of Terrorism; its President Al-Bashir is the only sitting Head of State in the world with an arrest warrant by the ICC for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Its actions and policies continue to pose ‘an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States’, as you wrote upon renewing sanctions against Sudan, Nov. 3, 2016. These sanctions, instituted in 1997, have been effective: Khartoum is desperate to have them lifted, and to get debt relief of $59 billion. For the US to relent on either would be rewarding a criminal regime, and facilitating their murderous actions. Equally important is for the US to discourage the Europeans from rewarding Sudan for control of illegal immigration and for ‘counterterrorism’ (EU has just awarded them 170 million British pounds on Dec. 18, ‘16). We must reject the notion that this Sponsor of Terrorism can be useful in counterterrorism operations, or in solving the immigration problem of which it is a primary cause.” - Al Sutton M.D., African Freedom Coalition

• “Our 44th President was quoted as saying: ‘To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.’ Appeasement has its place, but if Omar al-Bashir unclenches his fist, which he has not, the crushed bodies of countless innocent women and children will fall out. Don’t find yourself on the wrong side of history 44.” - John Jefferson, Co-founder, End Nuba Genocide Project

• “When President Obama called the genocide in Darfur ‘a stain on our souls’, we all thought: at least a committed leader who understands the urgency of the situation, eventually. Two years later when President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he declared: ‘I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.’ Even if no action whatsoever had been taken since his first statement in 2007, many thought the Nobel Peace Prize would be an incentive for Barack Obama to take his responsibilities and move up Darfur and Sudan on the agenda of world leaders. Once again, nothing happened. The lack of political leadership to resolve the problem is a real shame, on Obama but also on the world leaders and the international community. Now is the last chance for President Obama to do something before it is too late, for History to remember he is a man of his words. He won’t remove the indelible stain on our souls, but he can leave with a clear conscience and do something for the innocent men, women and children being killed everyday in complete impunity and total indifference.” - Max Dana, Founder of The MagkaSama Project

• “It is with utter disbelief that those of us who have tried to convince you and our own government to act on Sudan look toward 2017 and see no change for the people still suffering unimaginable horror. In 2011 when the terrible attacks began in the Nuba Mountains I believed that if we could make the US and UK governments aware of what was happening and who was responsible they would act immediately to stop Bashir from going against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which was brokered by our countries. That action alone should tell you that his regime cannot be trusted. Let’s be honest, they are manipulative and nasty and like all abusive and psychopathic characters they will tell you anything to stay in power and change nothing. Please do anything you can to make this understood. The people of Sudan are suffering while the world is largely ignorant of their plight. We understand how difficult things are for you right now. But you know what is happening to these amazing people and you must act quickly to prevent a worsening situation. Please do all you can, before it is too late. With hope,” - Claire Vera, Nuba Now

• “Releasing funds to Albashir by lifting sanctions is equal to helping him finance his genocidal wars. Khartoum’s policies will not change by cookies and rewards. The NCP understands only pressure.” - Gibril Ibrahim, Chairperson, JEM

• “During the years of your administration, Sudan government-initiated violence and inhumane conditions increased, not only for Darfuris (who the U.S. and others long have considered targets of genocide) but also for members of ethnic-African tribes in other marginalized regions such as South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Beja. The Sudan government also supported initiation and advancement of the civil war in South Sudan, on which your administration has focused unsuccessfully while ignoring al Bashir’s murderous activities in Sudan. Yet Sudanese from these regions still express belief that the U.S., and its people, will save them or at least increase protections and access to humanitarian aid: they still believe in ‘the promise’ of America, that we are incapable of standing by while slaughter and suffering occur. You have let down America’s image and philosophy abroad, for victims and freedom-seekers in so many countries, in ways that are harmful to the American people, but you have an opportunity to not enable the situation in Sudan to worsen - by increasing sanctions against Sudan’s president, specific government officials and other specific employees, and by improving the quality and value of the impact of sanctions on these people. Also, you can impede government violence in Sudan by freezing accounts and property-ownership by these same people in the U.S. and any other location where such American actions are legal, impede their travel and that of their families to, and within the U.S., where some now may be attending school. You also can press American allies to take the same actions against Sudan’s government and lackies.” - Laura Limuli, Coordinator, Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur& Marginalized Sudan

• “Early in his presidency, Obama made a promise to protect the people of Darfur. With the genocide in Darfur now in its fourteenth year and with violence in other areas of Sudan taking place, the current approach to diplomacy with Sudan must be improved. The Sudanese government, under President Omar al Bashir, has proven that they cannot be trusted. There can be no sanctions relief for Sudan. If a genocidal regime is not held accountable for their actions, impunity will continue. As President Obama said at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on April 23, 2012, ‘Remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture. Awareness without action changes nothing.’ It is not too late for the Administration to stand up for the Sudanese people and say ‘NO to Bashir and NO sanctions relief for the NCP!’” - Lauren Fortgang, Policy Director, Never Again Coalition

• “To even consider easing the sanctions on Sudan is unfathomable. And not only unfathomable but unconscionable. President Obama, have you conveniently distanced yourself from the fact that millions of Sudanese people live in absolute misery and fear under the al Bashir regime? Under a dictatorship that considers ‘black Africans’ ‘abid’ (slaves)? Really, why in the world would anyone even suggest the possibility of lifting sanctions on a regime that has wreaked havoc and killed at will in the Nuba Mountains (1989-1995), Darfur (2003 through today), again in the Nuba Mountains and now in the Blue Nile State as well (2011-present)? One has to wonder, really wonder, has your moral compass, Mr. President, altered so dramatically over the past eight years that your administration is now considering lifting sanctions on a government where killing ‘the other’ is second nature to it. Are you the same man who wrote the following words in 2007 at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: ‘I dismiss the cynics who say that this new century cannot be another when, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, we lead the world in battling immediate evils and promoting the ultimate good.’ Indeed, are you the same man who spoke the following words over a decade ago during your first presidential campaign when queried about the mass murder underway in Darfur: ‘We can’t say ‘never again’ and then allow it to happen again. And, as President of the United States, I don’t intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter’? Mr. President, is there some quid pro quo here that you and your minions are hiding from the rest of us?” - Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan (Transaction, 2015)

• “It would be unconscionable to lift sanctions on a government who has had a history of genocide as an ongoing policy. And a history of lying. I consider it a betrayal if the United States lifts sanctions on the Sudan government. In his first term, President Obama wrote to me that Darfur and Sudan are a priority to his administration. I have seen no sign of this being true. Senator Barack Obama said in his speech at the Save Darfur Rally on April 30, 2006 ‘If we care, the world will care. If we bear witness, the world will know. If we act, the world will follow.’ We have done nothing to show we care. If only words could heal ~ and they can play a part, but we need our leaders to have the political will and moral integrity to act on behalf of courage and basic human rights that allow living out a normal lifespan with dignity. We are waiting for the actions of our honorable President to match the words he so eloquently and rightly spoke when he was a U.S. Senator and a Presidential candidate. There is nothing redeeming about being silent when speaking up is the humane thing to do. The honor and integrity of the human race relies on it. Complicity is not a policy. Complicity comes from a lack of will. It comes from an administration that has lost its moral compass. It comes from a world too wrapped up in its self-importance to stop and contemplate just what human disaster will we condemn, if not genocide. Just exactly when is genocide not okay with us? Just exactly which group of people can we turn our backs on and the definition of genocide fits our values? A moral nation needs to stand up for justice. Genocide flourishes when there is no accountability. Where there is a will there is always a way. Where there is no will there is never a way. One voice won’t stop a genocide, but that is no excuse to be silent. I have never chosen silence regarding Sudan. I cannot imagine lifting sanctions is the honorable thing to do. How can this administration? Omar Hassan Al Bashir is a suspect at large from the International Criminal Court for 10 counts of crimes: 5 counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape; 2 counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, 3 counts of genocide. The legacy of President Obama and his administration regarding Sudan is already poor, lifting sanctions would make the legacy even worse.” - Sandra Hammel

• “Looking back on the history of Sudan’s war timeline, Sudan keeps killing its own citizens. It makes me cry sometimes to myself and to God, asking him did you create all humans equally in the universe. For example, since the beginning of the Darfur war in 2003 between rebels and the government, Sudan’s military has never stopped killing innocent people in the region. It is the US and UN leadership who failed the people of Sudan. The US should not lift the sanctions against President Bashir’s regime. If the US allows this to happen, then it will mean that they give the government of Sudan a green light to continue to commit the worst atrocities in Dafur and in Southern Kordafan and the Blue Nile region as well. It is important to keep the sanctions until the Sudan government has fully accepted peace and is allowing access to humanitarian aid into the region. We can’t just let the Sudan government keep killing civilians who have done nothing or even know the root cause of the wars in the region.” - Ngor Kur Mayol, President of Sudan Rowan, Inc.

• “We: you, me, ... the world has a Responsibility 2 Protect the civilians of Darfur and all of Sudan. Yasir Arman, SPLM-N Secretary General, wrote on 1 January 2017, “The SPLM-N calls on the Sudanese public to stand against genocide and war crimes and it appeals to the United Nations Security Council, the United States, and the European Union to take measures against General Bashir. This [latest] massacre is reminding all of the international stakeholders of the need for civilian protection in Sudan rather than rewarding General Bashir and casting a blind eye on his war crimes.” Sanctions need to be enforced, fines for broken sanctions should go to the people who have suffered under the Government of Sudan, and al-Bashir, Haroun and all with evidence against them should be arrested and tried at the ICC. This could be your greatest legacy. With much appreciation for all you have done in other areas to improve our world,” - Lakshmi Linda Sirois

• “We are writing to express our deep concern and distress regarding administrative plans to lift sanctions on Sudan. We ask in the strongest possible terms that you do not lift the sanctions on Sudan. As you know, the government of Sudan often says they will abide by agreements and then ignore them. They have never changed course when given ‘carrots’ and there is no reason to believe they will do so now. We ask that you not reward the Sudanese government for allowing aid in when they should never have stopped aid in the first place. It’s pure blackmail. While all injustice and human suffering concerns us, as Jewish Americans, crimes of hatred and genocide are especially heinous and we believe that there must be NO appeasement where such crimes are concerned. As victims of the Holocaust, we understand the particular evil of the crimes being perpetrated by the Khartoum regime against ‘the other,’ in Darfur, Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and all marginalized regions of Sudan. In the words of Rabbi Marshall Meyer: ‘I have no right to be silent in the face of injustice. We human beings are made in the image of God, and when humans are denigrated, humiliated, and persecuted, the sanctity of human life is threatened everywhere.’ As Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel said, ‘In a democratic society, not all are guilty, but indeed all are responsible. We all are responsible for the sins of our society. I cannot, nor can you, dare to hide in our respective gardens when people scream in pain! Circumcise your hearts and listen to the calls of the most vulnerable who are in pain and who are bleeding! They are asking, where are you?’ At a time when the Sudanese government has increased its attacks on its most vulnerable citizens, we ask the same question. Mr. President, where are you? Where are we all?” - Eileen Weiss and Sharon Silber, Jews Against Genocide and NY Coalition for Sudan

Over 40 NGOs, individuals send open letter to UN on Sudan's TRACKS cases

"In the letter, the civil society organisations urge the UN human rights groups and commissioners “to call on the Government of Sudan to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against ten staff members and affiliates of the Centre for Training and Human Development (TRACKS), an organisation which provides training on a range of issues from IT to human rights, in two overlapping cases that include crimes against the state. Crimes against the state charges carry the death penalty." Source: Dabanga

We, the undersigned South Sudanese, human rights organizations, scholars and friends of South Sudan, write to express our grave concern regarding the deteriorating crisis in South Sudan. The actions of the actors in the South Sudanese conflict have produced an outcome that has raised the possibility of genocide as shown by the recent increase in ethnically-targeted attacks in the country. Polarized communities are also increasingly using various social media platforms to spew hate speech. This rhetoric is inciting violence and animosity in a period when bridge-building is desperately needed. All indications point to the fact that the threat of genocide will only increase in the days ahead.

IGAD and the African Union are in charge of addressing the crisis in South Sudan, therefore, we write to warn you that the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate and to urge you to take immediate action to avert a looming catastrophe in South Sudan. Peace in South Sudan and stability in the region are entirely dependent on the respect for the rule of law and the coexistence of communities in mutually complementary terms. The competency and legacy of your organizations and more importantly, the life or death of innocent South Sudanese will be determined by the actions you choose to take. Do not let another genocide happen on your watch. Please act now.

A discussion about Sudan, South Sudan and a new initiative, The Sentry, designed to dismantle the systems that facilitate genocide and mass atrocities.

Omer Ismail was born in the Darfur region of Sudan. He has spent over 30 years working both independently and with international organizations on relief efforts and human rights. Omer fled Sudan in 1989 as a result of his political views. He helped found the Sudan Democratic Forum, a think tank of Sudanese intellectuals working for the advancement of democracy in Sudan. In addition, he co-founded the Darfur Peace and Development organization to raise awareness about the crisis in his troubled region. He currently works as Policy Advisor to several agencies working in crisis management and conflict resolution in Africa. Omer was a Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and he earned a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

The discussion will be moderated by Tom Giles, a journalist for more than 20 years and currently an executive editor for global technology at Bloomberg. He's worked as a reporter and editor in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, London and Eastern Europe -- covering financial services, foreign exchange, civil and religious rights and a wide range of industries. Tom graduated with a BA in Politics from Princeton and earned a Master's in International Affairs and Writing from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs.

Genocide No More, Save DarfurOctober 10-12, 2016 / Redding, CA

Demonstrations to Condemn the Use of Chemical Weapons in Sudan

Joint NGO Letter: Call for an Independent International Investigation into the Use of Chemical Weapons and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law in Darfur

Information regarding the use of chemical weapons in Sudan is available through Amnesty International. Click here for the report, "Scorched earth, Poisoned air."

Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development: Call for Action to Save Lives in Sudan

Please see the statement below regarding a possible cholera outbreak in Sudan.

If you would like to add your organization, please respond to Omer Abdelsawi Omer, who is with the Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development, by Friday, September 23rd at 5pm EST. His email address is omersawi@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Call for Action to Save Lives in Sudan

This is a call to the international community and concerned health organizations to intervene in order to clear the ambiguity surrounding the rising death toll in Sudan due to an epidemic of diarrhea believed to be cholera.

As reported in AllAfrica “Medical sources have stated that the number of infected people is still not known as hospitals and various state medical centers have been receiving dozens of patients. This has made the hospitals' wards overcrowded, while the majority of the infected lack essential treatment measures.”

Between the government’s denial and the international community’s inaction, people in the Blue Nile, Sinnar, Kassala and River Nile states of Sudan are dying of epidemic diarrhea likely to be cholera. Radio Dabnga reported, “Hundreds in the Blue Nile state are reported to have died and are infected with water-borne diarrhea, feared to be caused by Cholera. While unofficial reports say cholera death toll has risen to over 100 cases.”

As the number of dead and infected has risen, reports point to the spread of the disease further north and east to include Kassala, a state-bordering Eritrea.

Cases of diarrhea confirmed to be cholera were relayed by reliable sources on the ground in the capital, specifically Omdurman and Alhaj Yusif at the vicinity of Khartoum. The figures at hand, which were admitted by the government of Sudan and published widely, quoted in AllAfrica read as follows, “The federal Health Ministry stated that the death toll has risen to 17 people. 416 people have been infected: at a rate of 1.2 per every 100,000 people. The disease broke out in the third week of August.”

Thus, there is a real danger that this epidemic will most likely spread within Sudan and pose a regional pandemic threat, if not contained. Accordingly, we call on the international community, UN organizations including the WHO, Red Cross and other concerned organizations to pressure the government of Sudan to declare these states as cholera stricken, and open the door for needed assistance to reach those affected.

ACJPS: NGO Letter regarding the human rights situation in Sudan in advance of the 33rd Session of the Human Rights Council

Act for Sudan: Germany Stand with Sudan

This week, Act for Sudan delivered a letter to Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, supported by 77 signatories. Germany has developed a relationship with Sudan and has engaged in the process of negotiations between the regime and its opposition. In addition, Germany leads the European Union, which has provided financial support to Sudan to curb immigration.

Intervention on behalf of the people of Sudan to pressure the Sudan government to abide by the ceasefires it declared on the 17th and 30th of June and to end all attacks by its forces and militias, and;

Act for Sudan will be meeting with the German Embassy in Washington D.C. this week to follow up on the letter.

Support Act for Sudan's call to action by:

Posting the letter on Facebook (be sure to tag the German Embassy Washington and the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy by first liking their Facebook pages and then starting their names with "@" in your post):

Dear German Embassy Washington, Please help secure the immediate release of internally displaced Darfuris who were arrested by the Sudan government after recent meetings with Ambassador Donald Booth, from the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. http://bit.ly/2aQ0V2I #PeaceinSudan

Dear German Embassy Washington, Stand with the people of Sudan by exerting pressure to curb financial support to the Khartoum regime to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into Europe. A genocidal regime is an inappropriate partner for the EU and Germany. http://bit.ly/2aQ0V2I #PeaceinSudan

Tweeting about the letter:

To @GermanyDiplo: stop financial support of genocidal #Sudan regime to curb immigrants into Europe. #fundinggenocide bit.ly/2aQ0V2I

To @GermanyDiplo: pressure #Sudan regime to release displaced Darfuris arrested after meeting with US Special Envoy bit.ly/2aQ0V2I

Thank you for standing with the people of Sudan,

Katie-Jay Scott, on behalf of Act for Sudan

SU: Letter to Secretary Kerry re a Special Envoy for South Sudan

Given the urgent crises in Sudan and South Sudan, we, the undersigned 70 human rights groups, activists, scholars and civic leaders, write to request the immediate appointment of a prominent senior level official to support the engagement of the U.S. Special Envoy’s Office in South Sudan.

Nubian organizations in Egypt, Sudan and the Diaspora call upon the international community to oppose the candidature of Egypt or Sudan for the UNESCO Director General position because they do not recognize the Nubian language or history. Egypt and Sudan must officially recognize the Nubian language as an official language in both countries and include Nubian language, history, and culture in their educational system.

Thank you for taking action,Katie-Jay, on behalf of Act for Sudan

CASS: Letter to the Leaders of South Sudan re the Immediate Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to Address the Effects of Starvation

We, the undersigned 75 organizations, scholars and prominent individuals, are alarmed by the drastic humanitarian situation in South Sudan, with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network reporting increasing death rates and a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.

Monday, 6 June 2016 at 1-4 PM (EST)In New York City at Dag Hammarskjold PlazaOn East 47th Street, Between 1st & 2nd Avenues

On May 1, 2016, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, sent another jet fighter into the Nuba Mountains to kill more civilians. This time, six children died in Heiban town, four from one family. Since June 6, 2011, the people living in the Nuba Mountains have been forced to hide in caves and foxholes to escape the bombs sent by the Government of Sudan. For five years, the world has known about the suffering in the Nuba Mountains that Greta Van Susteren, George Clooney, Rep. Frank Wolf [R-VA10, 1981-2014], and Mukesh Kapila have witnessed and reported, but for five years the United Nations Security Council has done nothing to stop the genocide happening in the Nuba Mountains. When will the international community finally end the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed against the civilians from the Nuba Mountains, Darfur, and the Blue Nile? When will the UN care about our children?CONTACT INFORMATIONMagid Kabashi Tel.: 1.347.579.5111/Email: kuku66kuku@yahoo.comAnwer Tiea Tel.: 1.203.560.3082/Email: tiea1999@yahoo.com

Nuba Reports: Another Attack on Heiban

Act for Sudan: Stand with Sudan

120 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama urging him to make Sudan a priority in his remaining months in office in order to stop the long running government sponsored mass atrocities and genocide in Sudan. Since that letter was drafted, attacks on civilians have continued in Sudan, including the recent massacre of children in Heiban in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. That's why it is so important that President Obama act.

TAKE ACTION:

1) Please call the White House and tell President Obama that to act in support of the bi-partisan Congressional Letter urging the president to make Sudan a priority and force an end to the mass atrocities and genocide in Sudan. Call between 9am - 5pm EST: 202.456.1111

We are launching a mini-campaign to shed light on the killing of 6 children in Heiban in the Nuba Mountains by the barrel bombs from the MiG jets on the 1st May 2016.

The aerial bombardment in Heiban using barrel bombs continued for the following days causing two casualties on the 2nd of May (Nagwa Musa Kunna, female, 22 years and Samia Adam, female, 21 years). This is expected to escalate with the recent statement by Gen. Adawi on putting an end to the “rebellion” this year, which has seen an acceleration in the bombing in the last months (attached is a report by the Nuba Human Rights Observatory about the bombing in the Nuba Mountains region in April).

The aerial bombardment in Darfur has continued since 2003 and in Blue Nile and South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains since 2011, with its brutal consequences of killing civilians and animals, damaging land and destroying properties. The voices calling for stopping the bombardments need to be amplified to end this violence and destruction.

- Attached are some photos from Heiban from the bombing site on May 1st. Kindly feel free to use them for posters and the production of other comms materials (we have authorization from the photographer).

- Posters: attached are some posters already designed.

- PDF, Word, and JPG versions of the statement in Arabic and English in addition to the list of signatories.

o http://www.3ayin.com/detail.php/26/ - Dec 2014 - Includes a video about the children who have fallen victims in both the gov held areas and he children who were recruited by SAF. The bombing that happened was in Buram county

Darfur Women Action Group: Speak Up for Darfur Now!

We created a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama which says:

"The suffering of the people of Darfur has gone far too long after 13 years of daily attacks.

As a member of your constituency, I write to appeal to you and urge you to speak up for the people of Darfur and make ending genocide in Darfur and Sudan at large a priority.

We implore you to demand civilian protection, unhindered humanitarian access, accountability for perpetrators and empowerment of the affected communities by genocide in Darfur, Sudan to enable them to rebuild their lives."

Thanks again for making a difference!

Sincerely,

Darfur Women Action Group

Bipartisan Group of 120 Lawmakers Call on President Obama to Keep Sudan Humanitarian Crisis a High Priority (click here for letter)

Call the White House and tell President Obama that you support the recent letter signed by 120 Members of Congress to to keep Sudan a priority in his remaining months in office.

Call 1-202-456-1111 between the hours of 9am - 5pm EST or send a message online by clicking here: The White House.

Sudan Unlimited was pleased to sign the letter regarding excessive use of force against Sudanese students and demonstrators (click here for letter)

Lunch provided by members of the Sudanese Community of PittsburghPlease RSVP by April 17 to David Rosenberg at jumphook@gmail.comThe Luncheon and Forum is free and open to the public

4th Annual Forum on Sudan and South Sudan

Meeting with Congressman Doyle

Meeting with Mayor Peduto

DWAG: April 15 and 16 Hunger Striker and Rally at the White House

Please join us as we stand in solidarity with Darfuri survivors and demand an action to end the genocide in Sudan. Darfur Women Action Group will have a 24- hour hunger strike on April 15th. A rally at the White House will follow the hunger strike on April 16th.

April 17, 2016 Los Angeles

May 15, 2016 Santa Rosa

May 1, 2016 Washington DC

On April 13, 2016, members of the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service arrested Mr.Abdul QadirIsmail- who is a researcher and educator at the University of Omdurman Alahlia- from his home and took him to an unknown destination. Prior to that, security service summoned Mr. Ismail on daily bases for an entire week before the day of his arrest and leave him in the Security offices, without interrogation since early morning until the end of the day. Security service uses this practice in order to overburden and restrict the freedoms of activists and those involved in public work.

Before this incident two academics at Alnilin University (Mr. Hamid Aldoon and Mr. Abdulrahman Abboudy) were threatened and beaten by members of the ruling party inside the campus of the University.

We-the signatories to the memorandum- would like to draw the attention of the independent expert to these practices against the Sudanese academics and activists, which represent a violation of their rights and freedoms. As well, we request him to take urgent steps to ensure the freedom and safety of Mr. Abdul Qadir Ismail.

UEG: Tell Congress: Break the silence on Darfur

Without demands for action and sustained pressure from concerned citizens, the world’s eyes can quickly be diverted from atrocities taking place. Nowhere is that clearer than in Sudan.

So far this year, violent attacks in Darfur have driven 129,200 innocent people from their homes. And the situation may be much worse. The government of Sudan is blocking aid workers and UN officials from the region, keeping them from seeing what is really going on.

JWW: Tell President Obama: Don't Forget About Sudan

With so much going on in the world, Sudan has faded from the headlines. But the crisis is not over. The genocidal regime in Khartoum continues to attack, kill, and displace civilians from Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile.

Members of Congress will be sending a bipartisan letter to the President, urging him to re-prioritize Sudan in U.S. foreign policy and ensure our government is doing everything it can to pressure the government of Sudan to cease its attacks on civilians and bring peace to the region.

Please join us and bring a friend with you as we to stand in solidarity with survivors, speak up against genocide and demand an action to end genocide in Darfur and Sudan at large.

Between April 15th -25th, 2016, Darfur Women Action Group in partnership with the Sudanese diaspora, and friends of Darfur and Sudan worldwide will protest the continuing genocide and violence in Darfur. As a community we will organize rallies, protests, forums, workshops and panel discussions in several countries including the United States, Europe, Canada, Africa, and Australia. These events will be conducted to draw the world's attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and other crises in Sudan.

Starting on April 1st, 2016 we will be sharing an online video for our supporters to screen along with stories of survivors to be used to educate more people and mobilize them to act.

Darfur Women Action Group will contribute by having a 24- hour hunger strike on April 15th from 12:00 PM until April 16th 12:00 PM.

A rally at the White House will follow the hunger strike on April 16th from 1-4 P.M.

WE NEED YOU, YOUR VOICE , AND YOUR SUPPORT.

We hope you can join us by organizing an event in your community and join our online or offline actions. If you would like to organize an event please email: campaign@darfurwomenaction.org.

TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WE CAN END THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR AND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD.